From periphery to power: civil society actors in collaborative investigative journalism in Indonesia

This study examines how journalists describe the role of a civil society actor, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), in a collaborative investigative journalism project by the Klub Jurnalis Investigasi (KJI). Using a qualitative case study, it draws on semi-structured interviews with journalists and editors alongside document analysis to examine how peripheral actors participated across reporting workflows. Guided by the hierarchy of influences (HOI) model and journalistic role performance (JRP) theory, the study shows that ICW contributes beyond technical support. According to participants’ accounts and documentary evidence, ICW adds to investigations through agenda setting, data analysis, source facilitation, interpretation and post-publication advocacy. The findings indicate that peripheral actors can shape routines, epistemic authority and public outcomes. Situated in Indonesia's constrained media context, the study highlights how collaboration may create opportunities for non-journalistic actors to become integrated into news production and contribute to public-interest reporting.